Draco Rising
by Neo Hikato
Summary: The universe is a vast place, filled with new races and worlds to discover. For those who already travel the stars, they only knew one way to travel it, always believing that what they knew was true. But they will soon discover that the universe is as mysterious as it is vast, and they will soon meet a race that are capable of changing what they knew. The dragons will rise.
1. First Contact

**Draconia: our home. A world once riddled in strife and conflict, torn apart by the machinations of one, now filled with hope and peace. A world filled with so much horror and death, now reborn with beauty and life. A world which we help grow and develop in an attempt to forget about the dark age that plagued it before, and to further protect from future evils.**

**Draconia…oh how you have changed.**

**The defeat of Malefor and the rebirth of our world signaled a new age for dragonkind. Emerging from the shelters, we found ourselves in a new world ripe for development. The land has changed greatly, as the landmarks that were once a sign of our conflict no longer existed. Draconia was reborn, and we saw it as a sign that a new age has come to our world.**

**We first sent scouts to explore the land, to find new places to settle alongside finding and reconnecting with the rest of our kind. It didn't take that long to find the other refugees, and when we did, we started to rebuild. Soon, we started to call ourselves by different titles based upon our environment and ideas, which in turn brought about a new system of how to manage our world.**

**In the beginning, there were only five dragon clans, each controlling a part of the continent. These clans were the Artisans, Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, and Dream Weavers. Each land they controlled was called a realm, and so we simply called our continent the Dragon Realms. No one complained about the name, no one came up with better ideas.**

**As the ages progressed, two more clans formed: the Aquifers, and the Machinists. The Aquifers were water dragons who seeked shelter in the vast oceans around the Dragon Realms, creating underwater cities and patrolling the water ways to keep them safe. The Machinists on the other hand were electric dragons, who primarily wanted to advance our technology. Seven dragon clans, all working together.**

**However, our peace wouldn't last for long. One day, a traveler came to the Dragon Realms through a run-down ship. This traveler was a green creature by the name of Gnasty Gnorc, who proceeded to claim the land for his own. However, his lack of intelligence made him easy to be subdued, and after putting up with him for years, the clans agreed to banish Gnasty Gnorc to a junk-yard owned by the Machinists, where he wouldn't do any harm.**

**Or so we thought. The clans saw him as no threat, even though it was clear that he was stealing gems and using a spell to turn them into warriors. The Dragon Realms ignored him, until finally he had a reason to attack. Using a spell, Gnasty Gnorc turned any dragon he could see into crystal, immobilizing them where they stood. With no dragons to stop him, Gnasty Gnorc easily invaded the Dragon Realms, stealing our gems and dragon eggs.**

**Thankfully though, he missed two dragons. Spyro and Cynder, who were out to find other lands, returned home to witness Gnasty's invasion. Together, the two dragons fought Gnasty Gnorc's forces, and pushed him back his junkyard, where he was finally defeated. Any gems or eggs that were stolen were recovered, and the dragon race was freed. We learned a lesson then, that darkness still lingered, and that any possible threat shouldn't be ignored.**

**A year later, in the far off land of Avalar, an attempt to create proper portal technology lead the land being invaded by a man by the name of Ripto. With magic at his disposal, he quickly conquered the land while causing more problems. Spyro and Cynder were brought to Avalar by its people, discovering what happened to races like the Cheetahs and the Moles, but also to discover that war still plagued the lands. The two dragons proceeded to go to each settlement, solving the land's problems before finally defeating Ripto. Avalar and the Dragon Realms became allies, and soon our technology grew even more thanks to the mole that was simply called The Professor.**

**The next few years were filled with problems for the world. Our dragon eggs were stolen yet again by the Sorceroress who ruled the Forgotten Realms, our land was endangered thanks to the traitor Red and the dark crystals. But each time, we managed to fend them off and bring peace back to the lands. Each conflict made us grow closer than ever while bringing peace to our world, until we finally managed to leave our world and to explore the void beyond.**

**Thanks to the Machinists and the moles of Avalar, we dragons left our world to explore space and our solar system. We first went to the moon, and then we went to a distant red planet that we called Pyrus. We found evidence of possible life there, and later, we soon found the evidence of an ancient alien civilization, and with it, the technology that helped us advance and expand. Draconia became united then, and soon we called ourselves the Draconian Alliance.**

**We found the Mass Relays that was left behind, allowing our race to push outward with great speed. We colonized distant worlds, linking them together through portal technology to close the gap. Our race grew and grew alongside many others, and soon we thought we could figure out the mysteries that lied in our universe. It was truly the Golden Age for us, but we kept in mind that there will always be threats ahead of us, as we soon would find out.**

**My name is Ignitus, and I am the Chronicler for Draconian Alliance.**

* * *

Chapter 1: First Contact

* * *

The Void, in all words was a mysterious place. It was nothing but endless darkness, with small lights, stars, being the only light source. Each stars had new worlds to explore, but the sheer distance to them made it difficult to travel to them. There was always a sense of uncertainty, as danger could show up at any moment, but at the same time was the thought of exploration and establishing relations among those who traveled it. It was both beautiful, and dangerous.

Dragonkind and the other races of Draconia expanded quickly in the last many years. Colonies were established on new worlds in the Void, connected by the portal system that is maintained by the moles and Mechanists. The Mass Relay system, left behind by the Protheans, allowed further expansion, and research into better FTL methods made sure that the Draconian Alliance wouldn't always rely on the relays. Over 200 colonies existed now, and still they expanded.

It was now the year 2157, almost 600 years following the rebirth of Draconia and the founding of the Dragon Realms. The newest colony, Shanxi, was still in its early stages of colonization while the DA's military, primarily the 13th Scouting Regiment, patrolled the nearby Mass Relay. It was agreed by the council that all relays would be properly guarded before activation, just in case something comes out of them.

Which is why he was here, Captain Regias thought to himself. He was a dark blue ice dragon with silver underscales and curved ram-like horns. Much like other ice dragons, he gained spikes on his cheeks and shoulders when he became an adult 50 years ago. Though technically, he was over 200 years old now.

"Sir nothing is gonna be coming through the relay. We've been out here for over a week." A female voice coming from from all around him said with a mostly bored tone.

Regias couldn't help but roll his eyes. Out of all the AIs the Flight of Hope could have, it had to have the one with a short attention span. She was good at doing her job, yes, but when she wasn't doing it, usually this happens.

The AI was named Jura. She was based on the brain of a young purple dragoness prodigy that wasn't known for being able to stay still. "Don't give me that look Regias." The main viewer stopped showing the relay as the face of a hornless purple dragoness appeared. She had a rather annoyed look on her face.

Regias frowned as her face appeared on the view. Did she have to render herself fully all the time? "You know the protocols, Jura. We stand guard to make sure that nothing comes out of the relay when it opens. If nothing comes out, we send a few probes in. And if those probes are destroyed, then we have to rally the fleet, get the research ships to safety, warn the rest of the fleet, and engage the enemy."

"37 relays have been opened and only 1 of them have had another race behind it and they were benevolent." Jura countered. "It is not like something bad is gonna happen this time."

"Races." Regias corrected, "And they weren't a space faring civilization until we showed up."

"Still the probability of there being hostiles on the other side of this time is pretty small." She said crossing her forearms.

He shook his head, "You're the AI. You should know the chances." He said.

"Well I still think nothing is gonna happen." She said. She knew the probability was nearly to 35-50% due to how little of the galaxy they have explored so far. She was still entitled to her opinion.

Suddenly, a beep was heard from the screen. While Jura was still hogging the computer screen, thankfully it didn't prevent audio communications from coming through, as well as notifications that would display the source. The transmission was from one of the research ships, primarily the one that was working on activating the relay.

"Captain Regias, this is the Foresight." A voice said, a younger male by the sound of it, "We are going to activate the relay. We just found the activation code, right where it normally is."

Jura didn't say anything as her face disappeared returning the viewer to normal. She went to work prepping the Flight of Hope for relay travel. "Engines, shields, weapons, power, navigation and the coffee machine are working at 100%. We are go for relay jump when it is time, Captain."

Regias nodded, "Very well." He said, "Activate it."

"Very well activating Mr Espresso." She said. The ship's mess hall's public coffee machine started making coffee. She chuckled and added. "Also the relay is activating just in case you forgot."

Regias rolled his eyes, but he turned his gaze to the relay. The discs that stood still in the center of it slowly started to rotate as the element zero that surged throughout the ancient machine flowed and formed in the center. It took only five minutes for the relay to be fully activated, as the research ships quickly moved out of the way to avoid unintentionally being shot to another part of the galaxy.

"Relay activated. No internal damage or anything," The researcher said, "We are ready to send probes through now."

"Sending my echoes out to the primary probe now." Jura flashed copied her data patterns and imprinted onto the probe. Within a second, the probe responded to the Flight of Hope. A distorted version of Jura's voice could be heard. "Echo implanted. I'm to explore the other side."

Regias smiled, "Good. Send them out now." He said. Within moments, a few probes were launched from the Flight of Hope, darting to the relay. Once they came close to it, the code was sent, and a streak of lightning shooting out from the relay and hitting the probes before they were shot out of the system to another part of the galaxy in a beam of light.

The probes came to a halt as they reached the target. They began scanning the surrounding area. After it seemed that everything was green, they began compiling the scan results. The primary Jura echo began copying itself to implant into the other probes so they could do a more efficient scan of the area.

Regias meanwhile waited for results. It shouldn't' be that long to scan the system before the fleet would be able to move forward, he thought. When it came to finding new races, either they are friendly or hostile. He hoped it was the former, yet he had a gut feeling that this time was different. They found nothing hostile yet...so they were due to find something.

"Scan compilation of at 50%." The prime echo thought to itself as it started compiling data from its sibling probes as they spreaded out to enhance their scanning capability via entanglement of energy.

"How are we doing so far?" Regias asked the AI.

"Nothing yet. I'm guessing the echoes are wanting to impress us before they burn out." Jura stated. She was so sure herself. The AI would have been biting her lip if she was rendering herself at the moment.

"Scan report fully complied. Transmitting now. All units prime FTL drives for full system scan." The probe activated the relay as it sent its payload containing its data into it sending it back to the fleet. All probes began charging their system for full system scan after the payload was securely sent.

The payload arrived in Shanxi as Jura stated. "Payload package received. Data is being downloaded now." She pause for a sec and continued. "Initial scans show the area around the relay is secure but I recommend they finish their once over of the system before they break down fully."

"Very well," Regias nodded, "Keep me up to date with the status of the information." Maybe his gut was wrong…

"Understood sir." He said as she began decoding the data and organizing them into the ship's long term data storage and sent copies to the fleet and shanxi.

The probes now were fully charge. Their FTL wasn't based on the mass effect. They were based on ripples within the aether that had been known to dragonkind for eons to go superluminal. One by one probes shot forward as they were dragged by mini etheric explosion pulling on anything their way that as attuned them.

So far everything seemed normal as the probes would move forward through the solar system, as Jura would notice. Moments would pass as they soon arrived to the next part of the system and started their scans. This continued on for a while, at least, until she unexpectedly lost a probe.

Jura wasn't shocked by one of the probes going out. Any number of things can cause a single probe to die. She continued shifting through the incoming data, thinking nothing of it. A minute later, another one was lost. Perhaps there was a meteor shower in the system or something.

However, the rate soon picked up. A mere 10 seconds after the loss of the second probe, the third was destroyed. Not even a minute after, the fourth was gone, leaving only the fifth. And just as fast as it started, it ended as the fifth was destroyed. Something wasn't right...there was no way they would all be lost as quickly…..unless….

"Red Alert! All probes lost within a short timespan! Repeat all probes lost! Prepare for anything." She roared through every speaker on Flight of Hope. She momentarily took over the ship systems jumpstarting the shift to battle preparedness.

A small rendered version of her form appeared on Regias screen for a sec saying. "Don't say you told me so."

Regias shook his head, "I am tempted." He smirked for a moment, before his expression became dire and serious, "Alright! Battlestations everyone! Notify the research ships to head back to Shanxi immediately. Jura, send a transmission to the rest of the fleet and let them know to get their weapons revved up."

"The AIs of the other ship have been informed and are debriefing their captain." She said to him. Just like she said the fleet began charging weapons.

Regias sighed, "And give me that cup of coffee while you're at it." He said.

She giggled and said "The mess has been informed. 2 tons of a coffee is ready for consumption by the organic crew members."

"Captain Regias, this is the Foresight. We are sending you the data from the relay now. We hope it helps your forces out. Good luck, and may the Ancestors guide you."

"Copy that Foresight." Regias nodded, "Jura, get that information up on the monitor now. If anything is coming through, track it, give me estimates of when it will get here, and notify me _if _something is coming through."

"Roger sir." She said as her image saluted and gained a uniform before it went away. She created an echo. "What is to be done mistress." It said. "Monitor the relay. Alert me if something is coming through."

"It shall be done." She said getting to work. Jura went to work getting weapons and shields up and started bringing defensive and offensive battle information into tactical.

Regias nodded, "Good." He said, "Also notify Alliance command. Let them know of what just happened and give them a heads up that we might need reinforcements."

"Notification sent." She said. Just as she did a dragon rushed onto the bridge carrying what looked liked a cup that could hold over 128 oz of coffee. Jura has specified that volume would be what the captain needed for what was potentially coming. "Here is your coffee captain." He said placing it next to Regias.

"Good." He said, taking it and placing it on the counter near him before he picked it up and took a sip, "Going to be one hell of a day."

The echo noticed something in transit via the relay. It quickly informed Jura about this. She appeared to Regias. "Captain the echo I assigned to monitor the relay has informed me something is coming through and it is only a couple minutes from emerging."

He frowned, "How many used it?"

"15." She said. "Unknown classification."

"So we'll be even in terms of fleet size." Regias realized, "However that doesn't mean we don't know their firepower.."

"The probability that they have mass effect capable vessels is 89% certainty. 0.01% chance that they are completely based on it however." She said.

Regias frowned, "How good do you think our shields are if we are dealing with someone who uses mass effect?" He asked.

"With current weapons available factored in, we have a 95% chance of a handling a constant barrage of mass effect accelerators for a decent amount of time." She stated.

"So we will just have to outlast them until the fleet arrives to chase them off. Give them a few bloody noses in the meantime." He surmised, "Which means we will have to use the ship's special abilities at times."

"Yes sir. The fleet is being alerted to be ready to entangle shields at a moment's notice." She replied.

He smirked, "Well, that is probably one thing we have an advantage in." His expression soon dropped though as soon as he saw a beam of light by the relay as a ship dropped out. It was smaller than their own, yet he could tell that it was made more for fighting. Following it were 14 more ships, each ranging in design and size, but still smaller than their ships, more specifically the Flight of Hope. He took a sip of his coffee then, grimacing.

"Well isn't that underwhelming." Jura deadpanned. "Predictions between me and the other AIs is that those ships most likely are of the same classification as us. The reduced size of their ships could simply mean they are bipeds."

Regias raised a brow, "Bipeds?" There were only a few bipedal races within the DA. The cheetahs from Draconia were one, while most of the races of the planet Jura mentioned before, simply known as the Skylands, also were bipedal in a case.

"Sir we aren't exactly a compact species." She deadpanned again.

"I am aware." He said, glancing over the crew. While dragons were a majority, he knew there were other races aboard. Cheetahs were good with handling weapons, and moles were good with engineering. The races each had their own unique talents, though it was the dragons who were the most capable thanks to their elemental affinity.

"Sir!" A yellow electric dragon cried out, "Energy build up from the other fleet! They are charging their weapons!"

Regias growled, "Either they just received commands or recovered from their shock. All forces, shields up and brace for impact!" He shouted out.

Right as he said that, the invading fleet unleashed a barrage at the Alliance's fleet. The mass accelerators they had increased the speed of the projectiles, turning them into a deadly weapon. Whoever the attackers were wanted to try to end things quickly, however they would be in for a surprise as the rounds hit a blue bubble that surrounded each ship. The bubble waved with each impact like water, before it faded away once the barrage stopped.

"Status!?" Regias shouted.

"Just as predicted! Shields are holding. Why does it seemed everything out of my mouth today is coming true?" She responded.

"Well we did calibrate the shields according to mass accelerators…" Regias growled, "...but now its our turn. Deploy Legionnaires!"

Each ship was armed with the necessary firepower to hold against enemy forces. While they never encountered threats, they never were stupid enough to assume there weren't any. Out of these weapons were Legionnaire Missiles, which did one thing well, and that was make sure it couldn't be taken down easily.

With Regias's orders, the Flight of Hope and the rest of the fleet opened fire with a barrage of these missiles. Each one shot out to the enemy fleet, picking up speed as the thrusters did their job. The fleet wouldn't falter though, as soon a series of lasers would shoot out of the ships to target the missiles. It seemed as though they used a laser defense system, Regias thought.

But the defense system was in vain once they hit the target. The missiles that were hit opened up without warning, unleashing smaller missiles as the larger missile that transported them was destroyed. The missile defense systems tried their best to stop them, but with each missile destroyed, dozens took their place. Regias smirked in triumph as the space in front of him lit up as the missiles hit their targets, exploding in a fiery explosion upon impact.

"Enemy defenses indicated intense thermal buildup in the lasers." Jura chimed in. "If we continue the spam attack it could leave them vulnerable. Unless they have something else up in their arsenal."

"What about their shields?" He asked. Watching from the view screen, even though the missiles hit, the ship's shields were still holding.

"You won't believe this. They are mass effect based. They are just kinetic barriers." She said.

He frowned, "So their shields held since the missiles are kinect based." He sighed.

"Enemy is deploying small fighter crafts." A crewmember shouted out, "They are heading to the Flight of Hope."

"Then we best intercept them. Jura, you got the drones. Take them down." He ordered, "And keep the fire going. Reload our missile launches and fire on my command!"

"Sir I have a better idea. We use a triple elemental blast composed of fire, water, and electricity the resulting plasma stream would be effective against their kinetic barriers. No need to reveal the more powerful stuff." Jura suggested.

Regias thought a moment, before he nodded, "Very well. Make it so." He said, "We still need to take down those fighters though."

"Understood sir" Jura launched several of the expendable drones. They had no power source and were simple supercharged with enough energy to attack the enemy fighters via a kamikaze run. The beam weapon began preparing to fire as Jura said. "Drones away and beam is charging."

"They probably never seen an elemental beam weapon if their technology is based on mass effect." He thought out loud, "Either it makes them turn tail and run, or pisses them off more."

"Most likely." She said. "Beam is charged enough if you don't mind getting closer to the ship. About 2 more minutes of a charging is required to start firing from this distance."

"2 more minutes is enough." He said, "Our shields can take a beating from their mass accelerators, and the drones are doing well against their fighters."

The enemy fighters were having a hard time trying to avoid the drones, but those that did soon were able to shoot missiles at one of the ships in the fleet. The shields reverberated as the missiles exploded, but it wasn't an average explosion. Regias noticed this, as though the shields held, he wondered what was stored in the enemy's warheads.

"Jura, what exactly is in their warheads?" He asked.

"Element Zero. The warheads cause massive fluctuations in the mass of enemy's ship causing them to destabilize. They would be pretty powerful against a mass effect based ship." She chuckled. "Unfortunately for them, we are not."

"So they rely on mass effect." He said, "Good for us that they can't take us down as easily, but we haven't exactly tested our weapons out against-"

"Sir! Their mass accelerators are charged!" The electric dragon shouted out, "They seem to be aiming for the Flight of Hope."

"How many are targeting us?" Regias asked.

"All of them!"

"Damnit. Jura, think our beam is charged?" He asked.

"Yes. It is sir. Fire at will."

Hearing this, Regias gave a feral grin, "Good. Time to dwindle some of their numbers." He said to himself, "Alright, fire at will!"

With his command, the main elemental beam was activated. The supercharged beam shot out of the underbelly of the Flight of Hope, and thanks to the charge, it had enough power to travel through the void and reach the enemy. The beam swept across hitting any ship that was in it's line of fire, the hot plasma burning through their hulls like a knife with hot butter. Whatever shields they had was useless, and if they had armor to resist energy weapons, it was doing nothing to stop it.

The beam's charge soon ran out, but the damage was done. Any ship that got hit were either destroyed or doomed, and whatever plan they had seemed was put to a halt. Regias knew they were going to focus fire on the largest ship they had, which was the Flight of Hope, and even their shields couldn't stop that. It was a good thing the beam was charged, as now they didn't have enough firepower to try that stunt.

"Well they're fucked." Jura said out loud. The enemy was down five ships, meaning the Alliance outnumbered them now.

Regias nodded, "Though they will probably try to get some distance from it. That or send more fighters to take down the Flight of Hope. How's the rest of our fleet holding?"

"The fleet is mostly intact. Some of the smaller vessels got roughed up but only has a .5% drop in shields." She responded.

"Good." Regias said, watching as the enemy vessels scrambled to get out of range.

"They're backing up." She said. "What should we do captain?"

Regias thought for a moment, "As long as they stay away, they won't have to deal with our weapon. Of course, they don't know about the rest of our weaponry." He said, "Best to keep that underwraps and hold them off until the fleet arrives, since we can do so little right now besides the beam."

"Don't forget the beam can be modified in its effects. I suggest we use a different elemental configuration if they try anything funny again. You know put them off guard." Jura said.

He nodded, "They probably think we use plasma weaponry." He smirked, "As long as they fear it, we should be fine."

Jura's image appeared for a sec in Regias' monitor smirking. ""Probably a good idea."

"Good. Now we just-"

"Warning 15 new vessels have entered the relay!" She interrupted yelling. She detected new vessels that just entered the relay and was heading towards them.

"Damnit, did they call for reinforcements?!" He growled, "How long until they get here?"

"An hour." She said. "I forgot about the distance between these two relays."

Regias groaned, "Great."

"Incoming message from the Draco's Might." Jura said getting a transmission.

"This is Captain Verath of the Draco's Might. I don't think we can hold off any more hostiles." A crimson fire dragon said on the view screen, "Our shields are down to 20 percent after taking a beating from the first barrage and the fighters. It's charging, but it won't be fast enough."

"Copy that Draco." Regias said, "Fall back to Shanxi if you can. We'll cover your retreat."

"Understood sir. Falling back to Shanxi."

Regias grimaced, "We can't hold off against additional forces. I hope the rest of the fleet get here in time." He growled.

"Sir shall I signal the fallback to engineering?" Jura asked

He frowned, "Do it." He looked back to the view screen as the Draco activated it's front most thrusters and backed away from the fleet. Apparently the enemy noticed this, as they started to move forward. Probably also in preparation for their reinforcements…

Jura alerted engineering to give them full power for a retreat as Regias kept his eyes on the screen. They dared to invade their system, and just when it seemed that they were winning, they had to bring in reinforcements. Shanxi didn't have defenses yet, so it would fall quickly. They'd have to fall back, regroup, and take Shanxi back if these enemies succeeded.

Just then by a stroke of sheer luck, the rest of the alliance fleet was coming out of FTL just as the enemies forces started to arrive. "Sir! The fleet has arrived." Jura announced. Sure enough, groups of Alliance ships appeared at the edge of the system, quickly moving to the Mass Relay.

"About damn time." He smirked. The enemy fleet noticed this as they slowed their advancement, some trying to turn around to retreat.

An older dark green and silver earth dragon with jagged horns appeared on the view screen."This is Admiral Jevrath of the Draconian Flame. You got your reinforcements."

While 15 ships couldn't punch through the enemy's shields unless they used the elemental beam, a fleet of 30 could do more. The enemy realized they were outnumbered as they tried to run, while others fought back. They didn't get a chance, as the Draconian Flame had their elemental beam already charged, and soon unleashed a fiery beam of molten fire and lava at the ships. They didn't stand a chance as the rest of the fleet joined in.

Regias smirked as he saw the enemy being helpless to their might, though he glanced back to the mass relay just as he saw the enemy's reinforcements come in. 15 ships; apparently the other half of the fleet that went in. The enemy fleet stood still for a moment, before they started to turn back as they seemed to realize the Alliance fleet closing in on them. As quick as they came, they left. And with that, the battle was over.

"Admiral this is the Flight of Hope's AI Jura. Thank you giving us a such a speedy response." Jura said in a message to the admiral.

Jevrath chuckled, "We would of gotten here sooner, but first contact is a big thing. Especially when they are either brave or stupid enough to attack our fleet."

Regias bowed, "Thank you sir."

"Don't relax yet." Jevrath said, "The rest of that fleet managed to escape through the relay. No doubt they will come back with a bigger fleet."

"My question is what prompted them to destroy my probes." She said. "They had no weapons or shields. Even they don't speak a language the universal translator can be decode, they should have atleast known about non hostile intent."

"Perhaps they thought they had weapons. Or simply destroyed them just because. Either way, their intention is known." Jevrath said, "I want your fleet to regroup back at Shanxi. The council will want to discuss the next plan of action, and we need to discuss our next plan of attack."

Regias nodded, "Very well."

"Good. I hate to say this, but war is coming, captain. And it is coming fast. Jevrath out."

With that, the transmission ended. Regias let out a long sigh, "War is coming…." He said, "Alright, I want us to regroup with the 13th fleet and head back to Shanxi."

"Yes sir!" Everyone shouted out as they went back to work.

"Jura?" Regias asked.

"Engineering gives us a go. We are free to meet up with them on your mark." She replied.

"Good." Regias looked down to his coffee mug, seeing it half empty, "I am going to need more coffee…" He sighed.

* * *

"First half of Batarians entered the relay shortly after destroying probes. Probes sent out packet, but were destroyed just as it was sent."

"Any success on decoding the packet?"

"Packet was decoded easily. Simple encryption, will review contents next."

"And the Batarians?"

"Fled. First half went through, never came back. Second half went through...came back through quickly."

"...what would cause them to flee?"

"No idea. Probably new civilization. Batarians might come back with bigger fleet."

"...Mr Solus?"

"Hmm?"

"You best decrypt that packet soon. The Batarians will be meeting with the council in three hours."

"Very well. Will get it done quickly."

* * *

AN: So, first contact has been made, and the dragon race had their first major space battle. For those who read this chapter, this is the first of a major collaboration with a friend. I am a big fan of the Spyro games, and I enjoy science fiction. Since my friend enjoys science fiction and dragons as well, we had an idea to create this story. Mass Effect with dragons replacing humans, with elements from all the Spyro games: Original, Legend, and Skylander. Well, it should be interesting, and I am eager to work on this project. I hope you all enjoy, and please leave a review.


	2. Preperation

Chapter 2: Preperation

* * *

Mordin Solus was enjoying his work right now. To think, he was decoding a single file that was sent out by a new civilization. There could be anything in that packet he received: first contact messages, ship information, new technology. It was probably the first, but he was still eager to get the packet decoded and to find out more about this new race.

When he received the mission to monitor suspicious batarian activity around Relay 314, he thought it would be uneventful. The batarians were always up to no good, pushing the Citadel's patience each time they did something rash. Esan, now known as Lorek, is a good example of this. So when he was assigned this mission, he expected the batarians would activate Relay 314 in an attempt to expand outward.

A single probe was sent to the system to monitor the batarian's presence, yet Mordin was surprised to find that the relay opened by itself. He was first interested in hopes of seeing a new race and hopefully make first contact with them, but then he realized that the batarians were in the system. Whatever new race would come through would probably be met with hostile reception.

Instead, a few probes of unknown classification exited the relay; a smart move, Mordin thought. When the batarians found out about the probes, they seemed to hesitate before they opened fire on them. That was when he acquired the packet in the first place, after the STG probe intercepted it. It was probably for the best that the batarians didn't get it.

One half of the batarian fleet went through the relay, before the second half went in a few hours later. An hour after the second fleet went through, they came back without the first half. No doubt that the new race was able to fight them off. And now the captain of that batarian fleet was going to meet up with the council, most likely to convince the Citadel to send aid.

Standing next to Mordin was another member of the STG, Maeum Lesadril, a dark red and grey salarian. Maeum was in charge of the operation to monitor batarian activity, so Mordin had to report to him first. That was three hours ago, and as of now they were both taking the elevator to the Citadel Tower to see the meeting, as well as present evidence when needed.

"How's the decoding?" Maeum asked, glancing to see Mordin checking his omnitool.

"Going well. Decoding quite simple. Made special program to get it done faster." Mordin said, "Excited about new discovery. Possibilities of new race are endless."

"It is interesting," Maeum agreed, "but if the batarians get their way, they might not be their for long."

"Batarians are aggressive." Mordin frowned, "If found closed relay, would of activate it. New race would of be off guard." He breathed in, "New race activated relay first. Had preperation."

"Preparation?" Maeum arched a brow, "What makes you say that?"

"New race opened relay, but sent probes first. Probes scouted system, but were destroyed by batarian." Mordin explained, "New race knew batarians were patrolling system. Were prepared for invasion."

Maeum absorbed this information, "Possibly explains why the batarians were beaten."

"Yes. Able to call reinforcements. But possibility of new race technology. Unknown." Mordin turned his omnitool off, "Need to decode packet faster."

By then the elevator reached the top of the tower. Walking out into the council chambers, the two STG members saw a bit of a crowd, ranging from turians to asari and salarians, as well as some batarians. They could here some conversations from the crowd; most was about the new race, either the possibility of them joining the Citadel, or,in the batarian's case, getting payback for the lost fleet.

"Quite a crowd." Maeum muttered.

"Information got out quickly. Most likely leak by batarian." Mordin surmised.

Maeum frowned, "Makes things a bit more complicated." They walked up the stairs, where they could already hear the ranting of a batarian, the captain no doubt, "The meeting already started..."

"..this is a crime against the Batarian Hegemony! They should be punished for the deaths of our comrades!" One batarian, Captain Balak according to STG records, yelled out. Next to him was the batarian Ambassador, who stood silent yet had the same rage as Balak in his eyes.

"It is not us to punish a new race for defending their homeworld." The asari councilor, Tevos said.

"Besides, it was your fleet who went through the relay in the first place." The turian councilor, Sparatus, added, "You should've contacted Citadel fleet as soon as you saw the relay opening."

"Contact you?" Balak scoffed, "We batarians can handle ourselves. We went in to stop this new, inexperienced race and punish them for breaking the law. By the time your fleet would of came, they would of destroyed my fleet!"

"Citadel law doesn't apply to new civilizations outside our jurisdiction," The salarian councilor, Valern, argued, "We can't just shoot at a new race because they broke a law they didn't know about."

"Well then perhaps you should of, "Balak growled, "Because this new race destroyed half of my fleet!"

"We know." Sparatus glared back at Balak, "The STG was monitoring your activity around Relay 314. We know that you sent half of fleet in first before the rest, and your ship, went in."

Balak blinked in surprise, "W-what?! You monitored my fleet!?" He roared.

"Simple, really." Mordin said as he and Maeum made themselves known, "Single probe with low emissions. Hidden in plain sight."

"Councilors, "The batarian ambassador spoke up, "The Hegemony had no intentions in that system. Balak's fleet was passing through while scouting new worlds to colonize."

"Unlikely." Mordin smirked, "Balak's fleet went to relay first. Possible attempt to open it."

"We would do no such thing!" Balak yelled, "We know Citidal law. We didn't want to repeat the Rachni Invasion!"

"But you found something else instead." Maeum glared at Balak, "Did you share your ship's recordings with the Council? Or did you send them to the Hegemony first?"

Balak was flustered, "I-I was going to!" He grumbled to himself a bit before he activated his omnitool and sent the video recording to the Council. The councilor's omnitools glowed as the looked at the file, before a hologram display activated for all to see.

The display showed the fleet exiting the relay...only to find a slaughter in front of them. 15 batarians ships were picked off one by one by large, blocky looking ships that looked like dreadnaughts. One dreadnaught fired a red and black beam from underneath it, sweeping forward hitting six batarian ships, destroying them instantly. Other ships fired clusters of missiles, each missile splitting up into smaller missiles and overwhelming the batarian's GARDIAN network. The ships that came through the relay quickly acted and turned to flee through the relay once the other fleet realized they had company.

"Fascinating." Mordin muttered, "New race capable of energy weapons."

"See?" Balak smirked, "The enemy possesses weapons that are a threat to the Citadel! If they can defeat our fleet, who says they are planning to destroy us?"

"The usage of energy weapons is surprising," Tevos said, "But we should approach this with peace then through war."

"Agreed." Valern nodded, "This new race should be approached carefully. We shouldn't go to war until we know that they are a threat."

"Peace? There is no peace!" Balak shouted.

"Then there will be." Sparatus growled, "If the Hegemony goes to war with this new race, the Citadel will not support you. You will be on your own!"

Balak looked to the ambassador, glaring at him. The ambassador nodded, "Very well. The Hegemony doesn't need the Citadel." He smirked, "We will show you just how powerful the Hegemony can be." He said before the two turned and walked out, passing the two STG members.

"This meeting is adjourned." Tevos said. It was clear that she was stressed. Sparatus was fuming at the thought of the batarians ignoring their demands, and Valern shook his head in disappointment. The three councilors walked out of the chambers as the crowd started to disperse.

"Politics...so frustrating…" Maeum shook his head.

Suddenly, a chime was heard as Mordin looked to his omnitool, "Ah, good. Decryption done. Just in time."

Maeum looked to Mordin, "Well, what was in it?"

Mordin nodded, "Seems to be media file. Possible first contact package." He smiled, "Eager to review."

Maeum chuckled, "It's best we review it with the council then. Privately, of course."

"No batarian interference. Good plan." Mordin nodded.

* * *

It wasn't long for Mordin and Maeum to get a private meeting with the council. With the possibility of learning about this new race imminent, the council wanted to be the first to hear about it. The room they were meeting in was the council break room, where the councilors would normally rest. It wasn't the first time the two STG members were in here, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"So, this packet. You think it will contain information about this new race?" Tevos asked as Mordin and Maeum stood before them.

"Media file easily decrypted. Basic for discs." Mordin said, "Packet contained additional data, possibly translation files. Among which are Prothean language. Fascinating."

"Prothean?" Sparatus asked.

"Not actual Prothean. Simple language. New race probably found cache. Expected others to use it." Mordin nodded.

"So they had contact with Prothean ruins." Valern commented.

"Let us not dwell in mysteries." Sparatus said, "It's time to know the true face of this new race."

Mordin nodded, "Very well. Playing media file. Putting to main screen." Before long a holo screen appeared for them all to see as the file started to play. A light blue background appeared, as a silver emblem that looked something like a varren with a longer snout and wings appeared before it. Below it was the words, translated to Prothean, 'Draconian Alliance'.

The emblem soon faded out as it showed a terrestrial world as music played in the background. The scenery first was grassy plains with a distant city in the horizon. Closer was ruins, buildings made of stone. In the foreground, creatures with fluff on them happily grazed on the grass. A larger quadruped creature, possibly what inspired the emblem, suddenly flew overhead towards the city.

The scene changed to show the streets of a city, most likely the one that was shown in the previous scene. Furred two-legged creatures with legs were seen walking the streets alongside smaller brown creatures and others, though more of those varren-like creatures were seen, ranging in size, color, and shape. There were even some races that looked like...machines. The camera panned up as a ship hovered past the city, showing smaller skycars flying alongside more of those flying creatures.

The scene changed again, this time showing flying pieces of land as ships zoomed past them. The camera panend back, soon showing another flying creature that now stood in front of the camera, looking out to this alien world. This one however was dressed in steel armor with red markings on it, as it suddenly activated an omnitool, and even more surprising, smiled to itself before it flapped dove off the island and flew off.

The scene then changed to show space and a planet in the background. Ships, similar to the one that the batarians encountered, were shown in standard formation slowly drifting past the camera. Alongside the ships were larger ships, though were more sleeker and were outfitted with solar panels. Civilian ships, they realized. The music slowed down, as soon the emblem appeared again and the video stopped.

"Fascinating…" Mordin muttered. His words reflected the word the thoughts of everyone in the room.

"Hello." A voice said in perfect Prothean. "Is this working?"

Tevos blinked in surprise, looking between the other councilors, "Uh, yes?"

"Thank goodness. I thought our communication tech is incompatible. I'm the virtual intelligence sent with the package you have obviously decoded." It responded.

Tevos sighed in relief, thanking that she didn't suddenly have an AI in front of her. Everyone else, minus Mordin, appeared the same.

Mordin however, smiled, "VI with personality. Beats Citadel VI."

"Indeed." Sparatus rubbed his head, "So, this new race is known as the Draconian Alliance, correct?" If it was a VI, it was built to answer standard questions.

"Species wouldn't be accurate. The Draconian Alliance is the governing body of the species native to the planet Draconia. It's namesake is the most common species dragons or more scientifically known as Draco Sapien." The VI answered

"Dragons?" Tevos asked.

"I can show you. Do you happen to have holographic projection technology?" It asked.

Tevos nodded, "Yes." She said. What did dragons look like, she wondered.

A hologram appeared on the table of a red fire dragon in a decent amount of detail. It then began to move and said. "This is what dragons look like."

"Fascinating." Mordin smiled, "Sapient quadruped race. Capable of flight. Curious about their history."

"Ask away. All data I'm privy to is not classified."

"Very well. What is dragon's history?" Mordin asked, "Evolution, culture, that sort of thing."

"Be warned all historical knowledge prior and 100 years after the great planetary fracturing and reconstruction has been lost." It stated.

"Hold on, fracturing?" Sparatus's mandibles flared, ""Reconstruction? Impossible. There is no way an entire planet could be reconstructed. There is no evidence that these dragons have the technology to do it."

"Correct. Technology was not used." It stated. "It was the collective energy of two of the most powerful magic users alive today sitting upon the fragmenting leylines of the planet that allowed reconstruction to begin."

"Magic?" Sparatus stuttered, "Impossible."

"Magic could be another term for element zero or biotics." Mordin surmised, "Or new energy entirely."

"Correct. Magic is a common term for the manipulation and utilization of the life force energy. The proper name for life force is aura. It is the binding force of most things in the know universe. Beings who can directly utilize aura are able to perform task that would normally be impossible if you were using convient physics."

Tevos blinked, "Siari." She looked to the others.

"Aura close to Asari belief. All is one, everything connected." Mordin thought, "Dragons understand it. Perhaps have greater understanding. Fascinating…"

"Full mapping of the afterlife is impossible outside of dying or using less accurate technique is currently." The VI responded.

"Correction, better understanding. Don't know possibility of afterlife." Mordin said.

"Please state next inquiry." It asked.

"This magic..how do the dragon use it?" Valern asked.

"Complex question. Needs to be specific. Assuming basic. Most user attune to a certain base element."

"Base element?" Tevos asked.

"Earth, Water, Fire, Electricity, Ice, Light, and Dark. Evidence points to it being possible for other elements to exist but unknown for now." It replied.

Mordin rubbed his chin in deep thought, "Dragons have elemental attunement. Possibly utilize in everyday life. Or made of energy. Core, perhaps, based off fiction."

"Personal inquiry. Define your usage of Core." It said.

"Magical core. Used in older fiction, mainly fantasy." Mordin said, "Users could draw from it. Perform amazing feats. Dragons can do similar, yes?"

"Crystals native to Draconia can absorb ambient aura into themselves. Dragons, according to the elders, were able to absorb this energy and used as a battery for magical energy. Dragon gained the ability to use ambient and internal aura for power after reconstruction occurred." It answered.

"...fascinating….definitely fascinating." Mordin said, "Might explain questions."

"Questions?" Sparatus asked.

"Yes. Beam weapon, for example. Dragon understanding of elemental attunement allowed for capability of new tech. Beam weapon based off dragon attunement, perhaps uses crystals." Mordin paced around, "Yes, yes. Batarian reports indicated plasma damage to their ships. Plasma: Water, electricity, and fire. Red beam might of been fire."

It blinked. "Your deduction is correct. Unexpected rate of grasping the physics behind magic."

"Scientist. Must guess the unknowns, as well as knowns. Magic: Not impossible. Improbable, yes." He said, "Though, batarians..learned hard way. May continue to learn hard way."

Maeum looked to his friend, "What do you mean?"

"Dragons capable of magic and elemental attunement. Batarians, defeated by ships that use elemental attunement." Mordin concluded, "Other dragon weapons ineffective to kinetic barriers, maybe. Dragon shielding, effective against mass accelerator. Equal in space. On ground though...elemental abilities, elemental technology. Batarian use kinect barriers. Withstands projectile weapons. Against elemental firepower….ineffective."

"Inquiry. Are these batarians entirely based on mass effect?" The VI asked.

"Found Prothean ruins. Reverse engineered, implemented, and utilized." Mordin replied.

"Well then. To use crude draconic slang, these batarians are fucked." The VI stated.

Sparatus groaned, "We warned them not to start a war. These...dragons will annihilate them on the ground. And there is no doubt this Draconian Alliance is already adapting after the first battle."

"Inquiry. Are these batarians allied with you?" It asked.

"I wished they weren't…" Sparatus growled.

"How long has it been since this conflict occurred? Still time to separate yourselves if recent." It stated.

"It just happened a few hours ago." Tevos replied. Was it her, or did this VI possessed more intelligence than it should have?

"First Contact specific channels exist then." It stated. "Let them know you found this package and that the aggressors are rouges acting outside your will." It informed.

"Contact Draconian Alliance, good plan. Fear batarians are already prepared for war. Need to work quickly." Mordin said.

"Agreed." Maeum nodded, "If we are to salvage this relation, we need to contact them right away."

Sparatus got up, "We will need to act now." He growled, "Assemble a team to head to meet up with this Draconian Alliance."

Valern frowned, "If the batarians beat us there, we'll need quickly meet up with them before we bring in the Citadel Fleet. If we bring them in now, they will think the batarians had extra reinforcements."

Tevos nodded, "Agreed." She then looked to the VI, "However, I have a question. Who made you?" She asked it.

"I wasn't made by an organic if that is what you are asking. I am a stabilized echo of the head Peacekeeper AI Soreth." It stated.

"Wait….did you just say….AI?" Sparatus asked in disbelief and shock.

"Is something wrong with that?" It asked confused.

Everyone went silent as the only sound was the hum of the hologram emitter. Everyone had surprise and shock on their faces.

"...fascinating." Mordin said with a smile.

...All most everyone...

* * *

On the planet of Shanxi was one major city, and the only city as of now. Terros was an average sized city on the dusty planet, surrounded by a wall to protect it, although that wall would be expanded once the planet was properly colonized. With the recent conflict though, the walls were a major defensive position, and military activity increased in the last day. The 13th fleet hovered above it, while more ships patrolled Shanxi's orbit.

Underground this city was where the planet's current military was located. Massive chambers and hallways sprawled, containing everything the military needed. The inhabitants, mostly dragons of the Peacekeeper realm, patrolled the hallways alongside their smaller bipedal brethren. And deeper yet was the CIC, a circular room with a circular table, where Captain Regias stood as Jura was connected to the system.

The two waited for an hour now for Admiral Jevrath and the head of the Shanxi military force would arrive. Tensions were rising, as the enemy could come back at any time. They had to be prepared...they had to be strong. And to do that, they need a plan.

Soon, the doors opened to the room as Admiral Jevrath entered, soon followed by a stern looking dark brown and red dragon. Regias stood up on all four legs, bringing his right claw up to the left of his chest in a salute.

"At ease." Jevrath nodded, "Captain Regias, I would like to introduce you to General Emelth of the Shanxi defense force. He will be joining us in this operation."

Emelth smiled as he shook Regias's hand, "Captain Regias. I heard how you stopped those invaders with only a handful of ships. Good work."

"Thanks sir." Regias nodded.

A chime was heard as Jura's face appeared on the room's big screen. "Sorry to interupt but the giant kegger of coffee you ordered Regias is ready."

Regias groaned and allowed his head to slouch down, though Emelth seemed amused, "So, this is the AI you had. Jura, capable dragoness."

"Nice to see you admiral. How is my mother doing?" Jura asked Emelth.

Emelth chuckled, "She is doing well. As of now she is helping out with keeping the Skylands safe from goblins."

Jevrath cleared his throat, "Since we're all here, we can now start this meeting." He looked to Jura, "Jura?" He asked, as the AI showed the system on the screen, "As you know, 10 hours ago we were met with hostile intentions from another unknown race. They are mass effect based, and while their ships can withstand ours besides the elemental beams, we have yet to face them on the ground." He breathed in, "I fear they might come back with full force."

Emelth frowned, "Shanxi is the first colony they will hit." He said, "As of now, we have strong reason to believe that they'd think it is our home world. Which means they will strike with a force big enough to take it." He chuckled, "Thankfully, Shanxi isn't our homeworld."

"All fleets are on standby. As soon as the time comes, they will arrive to end the fighting." Jevrath continued, "Regias, you will be joining the 13th fleet in protecting Shanxi. Your job is to keep those ships away from the planet as much as possible. Emelth will be coordinating the ground defense if they break through."

Emelth growled, "I will not let them take this planet. We've been doing drills ever since we got the notice."

"Which is why we are prepared." Jevrath said, "Men, these invaders came without warning and fired upon our forces. They will try to take Shanxi. We will show them no quarters."

"Sir. Flight of Hope's sensors picked up no detectable signatures of an AI on hostile ships. If it turns that they do not have them, permission to mount of a full scale assault on their computer system with the 13th fleet's total AI population as backup?" Juras proposed.

Jevrath nodded, "If we can reduce the amount of casualties on our side in anyway, then do it."

Jura lit up and smiled. "Thank you sir!"

"You know your training. Do your best." Jevrath nodded to everyone.

Jura's face left the big screen. Many AIs reported her literally bouncing as she passed them in cyberspace.

Regias bowed, "Yes sir."

Emelth smirked, "If their shields are kinect, we are going to give them one hell of a fight."

"Let's hope." A message said on the monitor.

Just as Jevrath reached the door, a younger silver dragon stumbled in, "Sorry sir...uh, sirs. I got a message. Its from the…." He checked his omnitool, "Citadel?"

Jevrath frowned, "What is it boy?"

"Its a high priority message. Audio only." He said.

"Patch it through." Jevrath turned to the screen.

"This is Councilor Tevos of the Citadel Council." A female voice said on the other end, "We managed to retrieve your first contact package from your probe, and are hoping to have peace talks."

Regias glanced to the screen, "Jura…?"

"It is genuine." She said. "I'm getting confirmation from a Soreth echo. This Citadel Council apparently are the governing body for a galactic civilization. Our aggressors are called batarians and are apart of this civilization. He adds that they did order the attack. They have gone rogue and will not stop us from destroying them if they attack."

Jevrath frowned and narrowed his eyes, "Seems irresponsible. You let one of your own attack our fleet."

"We know," Tevos said, "We had intelligence monitor their moves, but we never expected them to find the active relay. You must understand, its illegal for anyone in Citadel space to activate relays. We assumed the batarian were going to open one."

"So the batarians done this before?"

"Many times." A new voice said, male with a slight reverb, "This is Councilor Sparatus. The batarians has been trying to get away with things every since they joined the Citadel. The turian race and the batarians clashed many times. This time will be the last time they get away with their actions."

"We are willing to send help if you need it," Tevos said, "Though we are already sending a team to meet with you."

Jura's voice could be heard. "Can I come along!?"

"Who is that?" Tevos asked.

Jura mouthed 'They have a ban on AIs' She then continued. "Second in command of the DA Flight of Hope."

"...right. The team we are sending will be there soon. A few hours." Tevos said.

"And hopefully later we can chat face to face." Jevrath said, "Properly."

"I hope so too. We'd rather end this peacefully."

"See you then!" She yelled happily.

"Good to know the galaxy doesn't fully hate our guts." Regias commented.

"Indeed." Jevrath looked to the younger dragon, "Send a word to the Draconia council. Tell them we had a talk with this Citadel."

"Understood sir! I will get right on-"

Suddenly the alarms blared, as Jura would sense something troubling.

"Shit." Jura said after flinching. "We got hostiles inbound sirs." He said

"Sorry councillors seems your rogues are starting now." She said before cutting the stream.

"Time to get to work. You all know your job. Regias, you're with me." Jevrath said.

"Understood." Regias nodded.

"Get your tails ready and up to the front line! We got company!" Emelth shouted out as they walked out of the CIC as every soldier started to scramble and get into action, "And for all those newbies? Welcome to the Peacekeepers!"

* * *

"We are almost there sir." A batarian said to Balak as he watched his ship rush through space. 200 ships in this fleet, and with a few dreadnaughts as well. To every batarian apart of it, they felt like they were going to win. And this time, they were ready.

"Good." Balak smirked, "It's about time we claim another system for our own."

* * *

AN:

Neo_Hikato: The batarians are pissed, we get to see our favorite salarian scientist right away, the Citadel Council gets a lecture, and the dragons of Shanxi prepare for war. Having my friend, known as Waterpicker, helping me out makes writing chapters a lot faster, so don't be surprised to see new chapters being posted left and right as it means that we are either interested in this story, or are just derping around if there's not a lot. It just means that there will be more chapters, and more for this story.

Waterpicker: I messed up some grammars in small areas. Feel free to let me or Neo know if there are any issues. We will clean them up asap.

**And now, for review responses.**

**The Lone Swordswolf: While the story is a alternate universe, it won't entirely replace the default Mass Effect universe. You'll see familiar locations, characters, and so forth, as the entire concept of the story is dragons replacing humans. Though things will be the same or different as we see fit, such as Mars being known as Pyrus in the dragon's system due to the different culture, and the lore behind names or so will be different. Overall, things will still be familiar, but with a fresh feeling to it.**

Neo_Hikato: Feel free to post new reviews. We love to hear how much you enjoy the story, and any criticism would help. Until next time readers.


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